North American freight traffic growth rolls on

The three largest North American nations all saw freight rail traffic gain once again in the latest week ending May 24, 2014, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday, May 29, as rail volumes continue to gain over 2013 levels.

U.S. freight carload traffic advanced 6.8% for the week measured against the comparable week in 2013. U.S. intermodal volume did even better by percentage, up 8.6%. Total U.S. freight goods movement was up 7.6% compared with the same week in 2013.

Nine of the 10 carload commodity groups AAR tracks on a weekly basis posted increases compared with the same week in 2013, including grain, up 24.4%.

Canadian freight carload traffic for the week ending May 24 rose 11.9%, while Canadian intermodal volume also did well, up 9.3%. Mexican freight carload traffic rose a modest 0.7%, but Mexican intermodal volume gained a more robust 6.3%.

Combined North American rail volume for the first 21 weeks of 2014 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian, and Mexican was up 1.6% when measured against the comparable period in 2013. Combined North American intermodal volume notched a 5.5% gain.